Still reeling from our experiences in Patagonia, we got back to the sun in Buenos Aires and slowly started to regain the feeling in our blue limbs. In BA we stayed in probably the most famous backpacking hostel in Millhouse which as you would expect was rammed with young backpackers on the lash. But in all fairness the facilities were pretty good and luckily we were on the top floor so furthest away from the noise. Also they can organise all your activities as well as buses to other places and generally make your stay in BA pretty smooth so it´s definitely a top hostel. Of course it also introduced you to all the best nights in town every night, so there was no relaxing to be done, as we also had to get used to the Latin American style of not going out till like 2 and getting back at like 7. So BA generally is a pretty big place so there´s plenty to keep you occupied, and it´s relatively cheap so you can eat good meals rather than having to cook up filth at the hostel. For a fiver we got a decent sized steak that was unbelievably tender and tasty with chips, and for just a couple of quid you could get 2 pies and a slice of pizza. And if you were feeling even more stingy you could get the classic pancho (like a frankfurter in a bun with various crap piled on) for less the a pound, so generally we managed to stuff our faces for next to nothing which was good. The first full day we decided to go on a walking tour with the folks from the hostel to Recoleta, the fancy part of town. It was a pretty nice area where apparently loads of royalty and celebrities live. There we also visited this big fancy graveyard, where the tombs were ridiculously extravagant and as big as houses to show off the wealth of the departed in them, where we saw where Eva Peron was buried. At the start of the tour it was good to learn about what we were looking at for a change, instead of glancing at a brief description from the Lonely Planet Guide and then snapping off a couple of shots. However the tour went downhill pretty quickly as these 2 teeth-grindingly cringeworthy douchbags from London spent the whole time coming onto the tour guide with some embarrassing chat and the whole speaking s*** Spanish in an English accent to be funny, and soon she gave up telling us about stuff to entertain those f***ers. It was painfully lame, but luckily it was their last day so I didn´t have to deal with them again and in the end all their `hola chica bonita´ in cockney was in vain anyway haha. The next day we mooched around the centre of town after a late night at a club in Palermo (which played some decent dance music with a Latin American twist which was cool), eating pies and panchos before a second night out on the bounce (I´m getting too old for this) at a much s***ter hip-hop place. The following day we visited all the main sights in central BA which took a while but we saw some pretty cool stuff, including some very nice parks and the building with the balcony where Eva Peron addressed the Argentinian public. One thing about BA I should mention is that every day there was a mass protest about something, with big signs and drums and people shouting through megaphones about something or other, who knows. But every day someone was complaining about something. We didn´t pay much attention to it, but it made crossing the seven lane main roads easier when they blocked them off. Anyway after a much needed night off we spent our last full day in La Boca, the quaint and colorful little working-class suburb that´s supposed to be the heart of the city. The main street is rammed with outdoor restaurants where you can enjoy fine wine and food whilst watching live traditional music. So when in Rome and all that, we sat and watched a riveting tango dance whilst tucking into a steak. After that we cruised around all the multicoloured buildings (which looked like your first paint by numbers) and watched a few more traditional dances and checked out all the local artists handywork on canvasses lining the side of the street which was interesting. It was all very heart-warmingly cultural with a lively yet peaceful vibe. LA Boca is also, of course, the home of the famous Boca Juniors footy team, who in an unbelievable fluke, were playing River Plate that weekend, supposed to be the biggest game of the Argentinian calendar. So after a final night out to supposedly the best night in BA (which turned out to be rubbish because the music was crap and you couldn´t move an inch it was so crowded), we payed a ridiculously extortionate price to the hostel to take us to the game before our bus out of BA. As you can imagine the atmosphere was insane, with the 12th player (the hooligans in the North stand) chanting and screamin the whole way through the game. When the players came out, you couldn´t even see the pitch with all the blue and yellow (Boca J´s colours) smoke bombs that were released, and so much confetti and balloons were on the pitch when it cleared that no measly leaf blowers were going to do anything, so they played on with it all still there. The game itself was pretty s***, and I was disappointed not to see Riquelme play, but actually both the goals (it ended 1-1) were screamers so that was a plus. But what made it was the fans and there unyielding passion, it was crazy. Of course this is also manifests in terms of animosity towards the opposition which we got the full brunt of as the River fans (above us) sent a onslaught of spit down on us as they left. It was pretty disgusting getting covered in thousands of blokes' saliva and kind of marred the day a tad, but all in all, it was a must and I´m glad I went because you have to experience footy in South America. It´s their true religion. Anyway next stop after BA was Mendoza, the wine country of Argentina. So in the end, BA pretty much satisfies all backpacking needs and has probably the broadest spectrum of traditional to modern culture all mixed together, in all aspects of life, that I´ve seen on the trip yet, which means you´ll never find yourself bored.